adventures of a college girl out to change the world

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Category Archives: Trying New Things

It takes approximately 1,857 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat.

So, let’s say you decide, on some crazy whim to have 1 meatless meal a week, and if you’re a family of 4 you probably use 2 pounds of meat in that meal, or more. That’s 96,564 gallons of water a year, saved just by eating one meatless meal. Water is limited, and there are plenty of ways to have a delicious meal, consider it!

Now this delicious concoction would be kind of hard for my Drexel friends to get ahold of, but for my friends back home it’d be pretty easy. In this mug was a piping hot mug of apple cider, and might I say, I never thought of putting whipped cream on top of apple cider. Though, I must say, BEST IDEA EVER!!!

So where might one find a delicious concoction such as this, that is only one of the many, and I really mean MANY, different options Lorry’s Coffee offers. As I grew up I saw about 5 different food places, stores, etc run through this particular building. None of them lasting for very long, and quite frankly, I didn’t really care. None of the places that were housed here looked all that intriguing to me.

When I came home for Christmas break I had a couple of dates set up with my cousin Lizzy. We never really spent much time together before, but had talked a little while I was at school, and I was going to help her with some of her photography stuff and go with her to her company Christmas party. It was her idea to go to Lorry’s, and since I had never heard of it and have always loved coffee/tea I was definitely all for it.

I’ve always had this weird coffeehouse fantasy of a really relaxed and chill place that’s easy to just hang out, socialize, and have delicious drinks. Most coffeehouses, cafés, etc have never really fit my criteria for a cozy coffeehouse, but I knew Lorry’s was different the second I walked in the door. It’s a smaller building so it’s quite crowded, but you have to work with what you’re offered sometimes, and that’s just what Lorry did. Ideally, in my little coffeehouse fantasy there would be tons of space and comfortable lounge area, but hey, nothing’s perfect right?

Since I’ve been home I’ve been there three times. Once with Lizzy, once with the amazing Sexy Fish (Jessica), and once on my own. The first two times I was boring and had the same thing, but today I decided to try something different, and was definitely happy with that decision. I have a habit of getting a regular thing at different coffee places because it’s what I like from that specific location, but I feel as if I’d find I enjoy many different drinks here.

The atmosphere is very friendly, and Lorry himself is a great guy. He’s very energetic, friendly, and upbeat. Today, the only money I had on me was a discover gift card, and technically they’re not supposed to take Discover, but he was kind enough to take it since it was all I had on me. He’s a very genuine guy, and I hope this coffee place stays open for a long time, which judging by how packed it’s been every time I’m in there and the fact that it’s Drive-Thru, it will be.

So, if you’re ever in the Ames area, more specifically campustown, stop in and have a warm mug of coffee at Lorry’s.

Like this:

I cannot begin to explain life since I’ve been here in Philly, it’s been crazy! I’m currently in the middle of midterms, and it feels as if I’ve only been here a few days. Time really has flown, but at the same time, I’m ready for a break because classes really are pretty hard core. Since being here I’ve learned how to actually sit down and study! For me, this is a huge feat considering I have the attention span of a squirrel. I’ve just had to take lots of breaks, turn off my phone, and use my computer at a minimum. It really hasn’t been all that bad.

Chem and Bio have kicked my butt so far, but I’ve discovered a new resource to help me with Bio, and I’m going to go to the help center for Chem in the next week. Hopefully, this will help me a lot. Recently, I decided to stop going to my Chem and Bio lectures because I wasn’t getting anything out of them, and I was taking notes on the lecture slides. Instead I’ve been reading the material, taking notes, and in the case of BIO doing the online supplements (pre-tests, post-tests, review, etc). So far, it seems to be sticking better, I went from super terrible homework, to decent homework. So, we’ll see how this goes. The one professor I really wanted for Chem lecture is Dr. King, and now that I stopped going to Bio lecture, I may just start going to his lectures that are during the same time. Though, I am going to go to Bio lecture this next week because we’re switching professors and I might end up learning more from the new one.

There hasn’t been much of a chance for me to get out and explore yet, but I’m still getting settled and used to college life and college work load, so that’s understandable. I’m anxious to get ahead/caught up enough that I can start using my cultural passport, I want to take advantage of everything in it. I mean, sure Opera doesn’t sound all that great, but hey, it never hurts to try something new! So, when I get the chance I’m going to do just that, try a ton of new things. 🙂

My textbooks are hella expensive, but I learned that the Chem and Bio books I have will get me through at least the first three classes of each, which means I spent $130-160 for the whole year instead of just one term, thank god! Speaking of, I get to register for winter term classes November 16th!!! I’m excited! I have to meet with my advisor between now and then to discuss what classes I should take because with the introduction of the new BEES program next year I may not need to take Chem, and taking that out of my schedule would make my stress levels go waaaaay down!

So, I just said it BEES, what is BEES? Well, this year Drexel partnered up with The Academy of Natural Sciences and starting next fall they will be introducing the BEES program. If anyone is history/environmental buff they’ll know that ANS is the oldest Natural Sciences museum/research facility in the U.S. (Even older than the smithsonian!!). The BEES Program will be the new Environmental based major at Drexel, it stands for Bio-diversity in Earth and Environmental Sciences. I’m pretty excited for this to start. It’s emphasis is Field experience early and often. I’m definitely okay with getting out of the classrooms more. The school digest had an article about it this week: http://www.drexel.edu/now/features/archive/2011/October/BEES-Department/

This week is midterms, and I’m hoping that after this week I’ll finally be settled enough to start blogging regularly again. I’m also hoping to finally be able to start reading a little in my free time again, I really miss that 😦

The one thing that’s been the best since being out here was finally getting to see Maisam! Columbus Day weekend I went to see her in Boston and spent the weekend there. It was so much fun, and I was sooo happy to see her. I missed her bunches! I can’t wait to see her again!

I’ve met so many people, and made some pretty amazing friends. So far it’s been exactly what I was looking for, major change, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!!

So, one final little thing and I’ll be done for the night… College is expensive, to the point of downright ridiculousness, and same as most people I’m struggling to pay for it. I recently entered an essay for a scholarship, and it’s win by popular vote. All you have to do is go to the link and click vote. Thanks bunches!

I wish that it was fall all year round. There’s many aspects of this season that I absolutely love, and adore.

1) The COLORS!
-This is when people are rushing to be festive for the multitude of holidays ahead, and for many different religions.
-This is when the leaves start to change, and you’re surrounded by a multitude of reds, yellows and oranges.
-This is when all the late summer fruits and vegetables come to harvest and fill the farmers markets with wonderful colors and flavors and smells.

2) The Weather
-Cold enough for hot drinks, but not so cold you can’t sit and sip and enjoy them.
-Shorts and t-shirts are still acceptable, but so are light jackets, jeans, long sleeves, and leggings.
-It’s a perfect in between the bitter cold of winter and the stifling hot of summer.

3) The CHANGE
School starts in the fall. You finally get to see the changes you’ve made over the year, physical, emotional, personal, etc. It seems as if the slow, constant state of change we are in momentarily speeds up and many things happen all at once. It’s a thrill, it’s scary, it’s nerve wracking, and exhilarating. I’ve always loved, encouraged and embraced change, so naturally a state of acceleration is going to excite me.

I love fall, and everything it brings with it, and while I do love it, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate it near as much if I didn’t have the other seasons to compliment it. Not to mention, I do enjoy the other seasons as well, Fall is just m y favorite. I leave for school in 5 days and move into my dorm in 6, I could not be more excited than I am right now. My environmental post, along with my try something new post, will be happening, hopefully, later on today. I was planning on doing the Environmental post yesterday, but I just didn’t happen, but I have an amazing one planned out now!

Like this:

You know how most everyone will tell you how scary and dangerous riding a motorcycle is? I’ve always wanted to, but have always been super terrified due to this reason. Today, my dad got a motorcycle, and I had to go with him to pick it up. After we got it back to his house and I dropped his car off, I went on my very first motorcycle ride. HOLYSHITITWASAMAZINGIDONTKNOWWHYIDIDNTDOTHISSOONER!!!

Yeah, that kind of sums it up! It was so much fun, and exhilarating. Gah! I wanted to just keep going and going, but we couldn’t because dad has to work in the morning, but still!

Hnnnnnng! I’m in love! I really, really want a motorcycle now!

So, yeah, I really can’t think of anything else to add to this… Moral of the story, sometimes the things that are scarily intriguing are the most fun adventures. It’s not like my dad and I don’t get along, but we don’t really talk or spend much time together, this little excursion today meant a lot to me. I’ve learned to cherish the little things, and it was definitely a little thing to cherish.

Like this:

With college starting in a few short weeks I feel the need to set a goal for myself, as of right now my schedule for school is pretty open, with lots of study time. This, being my freshmen year, is going to be the toughest for me. It’ll be a ton of firsts, and aiming for a ton of goals. I’m hoping to get my GPA in the 3.8-4.0 scale, work on my procrastination problem, workout regularly, work on eating healthier and keep the people back home updated. That being said, I am aiming to not have a job for at least the first quarter so I can get used to college life, but this all depends on what I have for money going in, so we’ll see on that one. If getting a job is a must, it won’t be too hard to work in with my schedule the way it is, I just need to figure it all out.

I got distracted there again, crud! I really need to work on that, anyways, the writing goal… I figure, even if I am super busy with all the fun stuff, I need to start writing on a regular basis, just to improve my writing, so here’s the plan:

Mondays: Sustainability
This section will have easy, free or cheap, environmentally friendly decisions. I will discuss whether or not I do them, why I do or don’t do them, what I could do to make them easier, and what the government/society could do to make them easier/more appealing.

Wednesdays: Trying something new
I’m always looking for new things to do, and I have tons of ideas racked up, all I need to do is apply them, so I’m going to make it my goal to try something new every wednesday. It can be some sort of workout, some sort of DIY activity, anything and everything! I’m definitely open to suggestions on this one!

Saturdays: LMGs
AKA Little Mini Goals. I’ll likely mention bigger goals in my everyday posts, but sometimes I forget about the little things, so I’ll be doing week long LMGs to work on improving my everyday life! Every Saturday I’ll post about how the last week’s LMG turned out, whether or not it was beneficial to me, and if I plan to continue it. I’ll also post about the next week’s LMG, it can be a repeat of the week before, can be an add-on to the week before, or something totally new and different! Once a month I’ll post about the LMGs that made I’ve made into habits.

Everyday: On MWFS, I’ll have a themed post, but I will also be posting about life any other day that I have time.